Review Page: Days by James Lovegrove
| Title: |
Days |
| Author: |
James Lovegrove |
| Format: |
Novel |
| Genre: |
Science Fiction |
| Publisher: |
Millennium Books |
| Date of Publication: |
1997 |
| ISBN: |
1-85798-841-8 |
No. of Reviews: 1
Av. Rating: 6/10
Buy this book from the Amazon website.
13.10.2000 - Benvenuto - 6/10
List of Reviews | Bio
The entire action of this novel takes place between 5.30am and 6pm of a single Thursday, at Days, the gigantic near-future superstore which provides the book's governing metaphor as well as its stage. We follow Frank Hubble, a 'ghost' (store detective) who plans to hand in his notice today; Linda and Gordon Trivett, who after much scrimping and saving are paying their first visit to Days as customers; Miss Dalloway, head of the Books department, currently struggling for space with neighbouring Computers; and the seven sons of the founder Septimus Day, who make up the board of the Days company. Over the course of the day, a series of events planned and random, trivial and disastrous, tie these characters' fates together, with life-changing consequences for all.
The Days superstore is a nice conceit, which Lovegrove develops and handles well. There's something deeply appealing about a very large shop, selling everything one can imagine and lots more besides. The way it fits into the economy makes very little sense, but we can suspend disbelief for the purpose of fantasy. Some of the characters are pretty thin, but some, particularly Frank Hubble - who is concerned that his life as a 'ghost' has erased his personality almost entirely, and who manages to rediscover his dribbled-away humanity during the narrative - are well-executed and interesting. And Lovegrove's control of pace and plot is excellent. My main problem with the book is that it seems unsure of its tone. Parts aim at satire, but it is too hysterical and exaggerated to be taken seriously as such, and too horrific and gruesome to be taken lightly. In other parts it seems to be aiming at 'dark fantasy', but really most of the book is too prosaic to carry that off. And as science fiction it fails by not sufficiently developing the interesting premise.
So a bit of a mixed bag, with good bits not connected into a proper, satisfying whole. I reckon it at about a 6, but I'd like to read more by this author as he matures.